October 6th-10th is Customer Service Week.  Proclaimed by Congress in 1992, it is "a national event devoted to recognizing the people on the front lines of the service revolution."  Because I believe that truly customer focused organizations are higher performers, I support Customer Service Week.  But I must admit that my cynical side sees the week as just so much hoopla - a once a year feel good push with no lasting results.  Easy to put up a banner, send your customers a thank you note and do fun stuff with your service teams, but the real issue is what you do all day every day to meet and yes, exceed your customer's needs and wants.  The challenge is to develop specific standards of service, train to them, measure against them and to continually seek the input of your customers. 

Is it still a revolution in 2008? Did the customer win the revolution?   Did the revolution succeed in getting customers better service?  It may be because we evaluate service every day and thus have become jaded but has the level of service declined since Congress made its proclamation?  We all have horror stories of bad service.  In the last two weeks alone, I could write a tome on the incredibly bad service I have received from Intuit Software, Capital One credit cards and yes, the perennial winner of the "we don't care, we don't have to, we're the Behemoth Bank", Bank of America.   But, I would rather focus on the good guys - on the organizations that really do deliver superior service.  In honor of those organizations and individuals toiling in customer service who give their best to every customer, I would like to recognize an honest to goodness "customer focused" company:  Curry Printing.

Curry Printing is our printer and they earned that honor by winning a small printing job from us and then knocking our socks off with great service and thus earning all of our business. Why are they different? What have they done to win our admiration and loyalty?  

• they turn around quotes faster than lightening
•  they ask the right questions to insure that their customers receive exactly what they expect and need
• their production is high quality
•  their staff is professional, knowledgeable, pleasant and focused on saying: "if that's the way you need it, you got it"
•  they regularly call to ask if we're happy and to assess how they're doing
•  they go the extra mile - they do the little extras that build customer loyalty

And their prices are truly competitive - proving you CAN deliver quality work and high levels of service at an affordable price!  Kudos to Curry Printing for their demonstrated customer dedication!

So, as Customer Service Week approaches, ask what your organization is doing or should be doing to build happy, loyal customers.  Use Customer Service Week for more than just empty hoopla.  Start your organization on the path to defining standards of service, to measuring your service and taking corrective action, to hiring the right service oriented employees, to writing job descriptions that include service metrics and to consistently asking your customers to evaluate your performance and by asking what you can do to exceed their expectations. 

To learn about the steps Curry Printing took to become truly customer focused, read the interview with Robert Gardner, Customer Service Manager.  Click on the link to the right.

To learn how your organization can build a competitive advantage through superior service, call Catalytic Management at 978-562-5001 or visit our web site at http://www.catalyticmanagement.com